Comic novel

Novel-length work of humorous fiction

Not to be confused with Graphic novel.

A comic novel is a novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literary choice to make the thrust of the work—in its narration or plot—funny or satirical in orientation, regardless of the putative seriousness of the topics addressed.[1]

Novels, books, plays, and many works of fiction or art can certainly contain and include passages or themes that are comic, humorous or satirical, but the defining characteristic of this genre is that comedy is the framework and baseline of the story, rather than an occasional or recurring motif. It is the through-line and organizing genre for the novel's tone, orientation and sensibility. A reader is not expected to 'find' or 'discover' a humorous moment within the reality of the text, rather, humor is the ongoing mood, like a comedy movie, rather than a movie that has some comedy or laughs within it.

Literary scholars distinguish textual analysis on this basis; the theory being that a story by Mark Twain that is a satirical critique in its very origin, for example, must be understood differently than a more literal novelistic plot.

## Notable authors of comic novels

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### British

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One of the most notable British comic novelists is P. G. Wodehouse, whose work follows on from that of Jerome K. Jerome, George Grossmith, and Weedon Grossmith (see The Diary of a Nobody). Saki's work is also significant, although his career was cut short by World War I.

A. G. Macdonell and G. K. Chesterton also produced flights of whimsy.

Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling was a notable mid-18th century work in the genre.

More contemporary British humorists are George MacDonald Fraser, Tom Sharpe, Kingsley Amis, Terry Pratchett, Richard Gordon, Rob Grant, Douglas Adams, Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Nick Hornby, Helen Fielding, Eric Sykes, Leslie Thomas, Stephen Fry, Richard Asplin, Mike Harding, Joseph Connolly, and Ben Elton.

### Irish

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James Joyce's Ulysses is considered by some to be a comic novel.[2]

### American

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Notable American comic novelists include Mark Twain, Richard Brautigan, Philip Roth, John Kennedy Toole, James Wilcox, John Swartzwelder, Larry Doyle, Jennifer Weiner, Carl Hiaasen, Joseph Heller, Peter De Vries, Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Southern, and Christopher Moore.

### Persian

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Iraj Pezeshkzad[3]

* Comedy portal
* Novels portal

## See also

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* Comedy
* Fiction

## References

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1. ^ "Comic Novel Definition". collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
2. ^ Bowen, Zack. Ulysses as a comic novel. Syracuse University Press, 1989.
3. ^ "طنز و طنزینه: ایرج پزشکزاد - ۲". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2020-03-23.

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Comedy

Topics|

* Comedian
* Comedic device
* Comedy festival
* Comedy troupe
* Comic timing
* Farce
* Humorist
* Humour
* Impersonator
* Impressionist
* Irony
* Joke
* Prank call
* Punch line
* Satire
* Visual gag
* Wit
* Word play

Film|

| Country|

* American
* British
* French
* Italian

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Genre|

* Action
* Fantasy
* Horror
* Mockumentary
* Parody
* Remarriage
* Romance
* Science fiction
* Screwball
* Sex
* Italian
* Mexican
* Silent
* Slapstick
* Stoner
* Thriller

Theatre|

| Country|

| Europe|

* Ancient Greek comedy
* Comédie-Française
* Comédie-Italienne
* Corral de comedias
* Theatre of ancient Rome

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Asia|

* China
* Xiangsheng
* Hong Kong
* Mo lei tau
* Indonesia
* Lenong
* Ludruk
* Japan
* Kyōgen
* Manzai
* Owarai
* Rakugo
* Sarugaku

Genre|

* Boulevard theatre
* Comedy-drama
* Comedy of humours
* Comedy of manners
* Comedy of menace
* Commedia dell'arte
* Double act
* Improvisational
* Macchietta
* One-person show
* Pantomime
* Harlequinade
* Restoration comedy
* Sentimental comedy
* Comédie larmoyante
* Shadow play
* Shakespearean comedy
* Sketch comedy
* Spex
* Stand-up comedy
* Street theatre
* Theatre of the Absurd
* Tragicomedy
* Vaudeville

Music
and dance|

* Ballad opera
* Cabaret
* Café-chantant
* Café-théâtre
* Comédie-ballet
* Comedy club
* Light music
* Music hall
* Musical theatre
* Opéra bouffe
* Opéra bouffon
* Opera buffa
* Opéra comique
* Operetta
* Revue

Media|

* Music
* Album
* Rock
* Hip hop
* Parody
* Musical comedians
* Novel
* Radio
* Television
* Mockumentary
* Roast
* Sitcom
* Animated sitcom
* Black sitcom
* Teen sitcom

Subgenres|

* Alternative
* Black
* Blue
* Character
* Christian
* Clown
* Cringe
* Deadpan (dry humor)
* Documentary
* High / low
* Horror
* Insult
* Observational
* Physical
* Prop
* Self-referential
* Shock
* Sick
* Slapstick
* Topics
* Surreal
* Ventriloquism
* Zombie

* Category
* Portal

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Narrative

Character|

* Antagonist
* Archenemy
* Character arc
* Character flaw
* Characterization
* Confidant
* Deuteragonist
* False protagonist
* Focal character
* Foil
* Gothic double
* Hamartia
* Hero
* Anti
* Byronic
* Tragic
* Narrator
* Protagonist
* Stock character
* Straight man
* Supporting character
* Title character
* Tritagonist
* Villain

Plot|

* Ab ovo
* Action
* Backstory
* Origin story
* Chekhov's gun
* Cliché
* Cliffhanger
* Conflict
* Deus ex machina
* Dialogue
* Dramatic structure
* Eucatastrophe
* Foreshadowing
* Flashback
* Flashforward
* Frame story
* In medias res
* Kishōtenketsu
* MacGuffin
* Pace
* Plot device
* Plot twist
* Poetic justice
* Red herring
* Reveal
* Self-insertion
* Shaggy dog story
* Stereotype
* Story arc
* Story within a story
* Subplot
* Suspense
* Trope

Setting|

* Alternate history
* Backstory
* Crossover
* Dreamworld
* Dystopia
* Fictional location
* city
* country
* universe
* parallel
* Utopia
* Worldbuilding

Theme|

* Irony
* Leitmotif
* Metaphor
* Moral
* Moral development
* Motif
* Deal with the Devil
* Conflict between good and evil
* Self-fulfilling prophecy
* Time travel

Style|

* Allegory
* Bathos
* Comic relief
* Diction
* Figure of speech
* Imagery
* Mode
* Mood
* Narration
* Narrative techniques
* Hook
* Show, don't tell
* Stylistic device
* Suspension of disbelief
* Symbolism
* Tone

Structure|

* Act
* Act structure
* Three-act structure
* Freytag's Pyramid
* Exposition/Protasis
* Rising action/Epitasis
* Climax/Peripeteia
* Falling action/Catastasis
* Denouement/Catastrophe
* Linear narrative
* Nonlinear narrative
* films
* television series
* Premise
* Types of fiction with multiple endings

Form|

* Drama
* Fabliau
* Flash fiction
* Folklore
* Fable
* Fairy tale
* Legend
* Myth
* Tall tale
* Gamebook
* Narrative art
* Narrative poetry
* Epic poetry
* Novel
* Novella
* Parable
* Short story
* Vignette

Genre
(List)|

* Autobiography
* Biography
* Fiction
* Action fiction
* Adventure
* Comic
* Crime
* Docu
* Epistolary
* Ergodic
* Erotic
* Historical
* Mystery
* Nautical
* Paranoid
* Philosophical
* Picaresque
* Political
* Pop culture
* Psychological
* Religious
* Rogue
* Romance
* Chivalric
* Prose
* Saga
* Satire
* Speculative fiction
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Southern
* Horror
* Magic realism
* Science
* Hard
* Utopian and dystopian
* Underwater
* Superhero
* Theological
* Thriller
* Urban
* Western
* Nonfiction
* Novel
* Creative

Narration|

* Diegesis
* First-person
* Second-person
* Third-person
* Third-person omniscient narrative
* Subjectivity
* Unreliable narrator
* Multiple narrators
* Stream of consciousness
* Stream of unconsciousness

Tense|

* Past
* Present
* Future

Related|

* Dominant narrative
* Fiction writing
* Continuity
* Canon
* Reboot
* Retcon
* Parallel novel
* Prequel / Sequel
* Genre
* List
* Literary science
* Literary theory
* Narrative identity
* Narrative paradigm
* Narrative therapy
* Narratology
* Metafiction
* Political narrative
* Rhetoric
* Glossary
* Screenwriting
* Storytelling
* Tellability
* Verisimilitude

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